As an academic medical institution, we are dedicated to pioneering bench to bedside research across our surgical subspecialties to bring the new treatments, best practices and knowledge to our providers and patients.
Researchers in the Department of Surgery explore basic, translational and clinical resesarch in trauma and emergency general surgery, minimally invasive surgery, transplantation (pediatric and adult), transplantation immunology, bioengineering of bridge to transplant devices, tissue engineering (islet transplantation, composite tissue transplantation), wound healing, and cancer biology.
Our clinicians work with laboratory scientists and biomedical engineers to identify gaps in medical knowledge and drive their innovations into new diagnostic and surgical techniques to improve patient safety and outcomes.
Explore Our Research Labs
Institute for Cellular Transplantation
The Institute for Cellular Transplantation strives to be a global leader in the development and clinical application of cost-effective and widespread of cell-based therapies with a focus on the treatment of diabetes without the need for immunosuppression.
Medical Student Research Program
The Medical Student Research Program provides a platform for student research fellows to gain familiarity with biologic horizons in both basic and clinical science and acquire a broad grasp of research skills.
Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance
The Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA) is a collaborative clinical and research alliance dedicated to advancing care of the diabetic foot and preventing amputations in North America and worldwide.
Laboratory for Fetal and Regenerative Biology
The Laboratory for Fetal and Regenerative Biology research is focused primarily in the field of healing, the response to injury, and regenerative medicine, developing novel treatment paradigms to promote healing and tissue regeneration.
The Gurtner Lab
The Gurtner Lab focuses on developing translational research projects in the lab that can become commercialized to improve patient care, including wound healing, regeneration, and foreign body response.
The Weinkauf Lab
The Weinkauf Lab focuses on translational science to better understand and treat patients with cardiovascular disease. It utilizes collaborations across surgery, engineering, immunology, medical imaging and neuroscience specialties to develop better tools to study undertreated or mistreated vascular diseases.